Nikita Vladimirov

President Donald Trump's latest attempt to stop the damaging leaks coming from the White House has been leaked to the press. Current and former officials told said that in an effort reduce leaks to the media, the White House has limited access to its classified computer systems.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also dedicated his first senior staff meeting in Feb to underscoring that he will not tolerate leaks to the media. Trump's administration is increasingly committed to reducing the amount of leaks coming from the White House in recent months. The flurry of leaked documents and reports has undermined Trump's key policy positions, including his ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Some officials also told the news agency that they fear a witch hunt is on for a Department of Homeland Security official who leaked the draft intelligence report to the press.

Sen John McCain (R-AZ) defended the free press following criticism by President Trump, warning that a suppression of an "adversarial" press can lead to a dictatorial regime. When asked about the president's tweet from Feb 17 that accused the media of being the "enemy of the American people," Sen McCain took the opportunity to underscore the importance of free press in the modern era. "A fundamental part of that new world order was a free press. I hate the press, I hate you especially, but the fact is we need you, we need a free press," Sen McCain told Chuck Todd in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "That's how dictators get started," he added later. "They get started by suppressing free press, in other words, a consolidation of power." "I am not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. I am just saying we need to learn the lessons of history," he said, warning about any attempts to "shut down" the press.